43: Chapter 43 I Choose 1500 Years! (Beat!)

Huo Yuhao let out a burp, rubbing his stomach that felt like it was about to burst, and followed the main group toward the Spirit Beast Coliseum with a look of utter despair.

That "last meal" fed to him by six girls yesterday noon had almost sent him ascending on the spot.

Right now, his stomach still felt like a washing machine full of mixed leftovers; the roasted meat, chili oil, and nourishing soup were holding a "Three Kingdoms" meeting inside.

"Hiccup."

He let out another burp, drawing a sideways glance from Wang Donger, who was walking beside him.

"Did you go steal a cow last night? Today is the advancement assessment, will you be okay in this state?"

Wang Donger looked at him with disgust, but quietly slipped him a fragrant pill. "Here, for digestion. Eat it quickly. If you throw up in the Spirit Beast Coliseum later, I'll pretend I don't know you."

"Thank you for your grace." Huo Yuhao swallowed the pill without hesitation.

Shrek Academy's Spirit Beast Coliseum was already bustling with noise.

The second-year advancement assessment was public, and the stands were packed with people.

This wasn't just an assessment; it was a massive spectator event for Shrek Academy.

Who wouldn't want to see the miserable sight of these proud sons of the Outer Courtyard being rubbed into the ground by Spirit Beasts?

The assessment rules were simple: solo run.

Choose your own Spirit Beast age, and the judges would score based on performance and age. The maximum score was 150.

If you were about to be beaten to death, the judges would save you, but your score would be severely deducted.

The observer in charge of the second-year assessment area today was none other than Ma Xiaotao.

She wasn't wearing her school uniform today; a fiery red fitted outfit outlined her figure to the extreme.

Ma Xiaotao rested her hands on the high platform's railing, her gaze scanning the crowd like a radar, eventually landing precisely on Huo Yuhao.

She curled the corner of her mouth and threw a blatant wink at Huo Yuhao.

In the best viewing area of the front row of the stands.

Sat two individuals whose style was completely different from the people around them.

Wang Qiuer was dressed in a capable warrior outfit, her long golden hair tied up high. She sat there with her arms crossed and a cold face, automatically creating a "no strangers allowed" absolute Domain within three meters.

Gu Yuena was much more casual.

She was wearing a moon-white long dress, leaning lazily against the back of the chair, holding a cup of milk tea from who knows where, biting on the straw.

One of them was as cold as frost, the other ethereal and mysterious.

They nearly twisted the necks of the surrounding boys just by looking at them.

"I say, Qiuer." Gu Yuena said, biting the straw, speaking indistinctly.

"What?" Wang Qiuer didn't look away.

"Could you restrain yourself a little?"

Gu Yuena turned her head, looking at her with a half-smile. "Your gaze is almost piercing through the floor tiles of the Spirit Beast Coliseum. If people didn't know better, they'd think you were about to jump down and fight those Spirit Beasts for food."

Wang Qiuer replied coldly: "I did not."

"Fine, fine, you didn't."

Gu Yuena chuckled lightly. "You look at that kid with more intensity than you look at me, your sister."

Wang Qiuer didn't speak, but the tips of her ears turned a barely noticeable shade of red.

Gu Yuena didn't tease her anymore.

She knew Wang Qiuer's feelings for Huo Yuhao too well; they were impossible to hide.

The assessment proceeded according to the drawing order.

The first to take the stage was Tang Ya, who chose an 800-year-old Wind Baboon.

It had to be said that after Huo Yuhao forcibly reversed her fate line, Tang Ya's Blue Silver Grass was completely on the right track.

Vines filled the arena, dancing wildly like venomous snakes.

The Wind Baboon didn't even touch the corner of Tang Ya's clothes before it was wrapped up like a big rice dumpling.

Finally, Tang Ya snapped her fingers, and the Blue Silver Grass contracted and strangled, ending the battle.

"Tang Ya, 800-year Spirit Beast, perfect control, 115 points." The judge announced loudly.

Tang Ya walked off the stage, and the first thing she did was flash a V-sign in Huo Yuhao's direction.

Next was Jiang Nannan, who chose a 900-year-old Golden Armored Bear.

This kind of thick-skinned Spirit Beast was the biggest counter to the agility-attack system, but Jiang Nannan relied on the extreme agility of the Soft Bones Rabbit to run that clumsy bear in circles.

Finally, finding an opportunity, she used a Waist Bow combined with a close-range locking technique to pin the Golden Armored Bear to the ground, unable to move.

"Jiang Nannan, 900-year Spirit Beast, excellent technique, 120 points."

Jiang Nannan wiped the sweat from her brow. When she walked past Huo Yuhao off the stage, she smiled gently: "Yuhao, good luck."

"Okay, Sister Nannan." Huo Yuhao nodded in response.

Wang Donger couldn't sit still anymore.

When it was her turn to take the stage, she walked straight to the selection platform and pressed the "1200 years" button.

The whole arena was in an uproar.

A second-year fighting a 1200-year one? Is she tired of living?

The iron gate slowly rose.

A Light-Winged Tiger radiating blinding light roared and rushed out.

Wang Donger was not afraid at all, and the gorgeous wings of her Radiant Goddess Butterfly instantly unfurled behind her.

The pure light attribute directly suppressed the arrogant aura of the Light-Winged Tiger.

She performed a nimble turn in the air, dodging the Light-Winged Tiger's pounce, and then her wings, like blades, slashed out a dazzling light blade.

"Puchi!"

The Light-Winged Tiger was slashed and retreated repeatedly, howling as it lay on the ground, admitting defeat.

The whole process was smooth as flowing water; she didn't even dirty her clothes.

"Wang Donger, 1200-year Spirit Beast, perfect attribute suppression, 138 points!"

The whole arena erupted in applause.

Wang Donger retracted her Spirit and subconsciously turned to look at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao gave her a thumbs up, a gentle smile on his lips.

But in this smile, it felt like something restrained was hidden.

Wang Donger bit her lip, feeling inexplicably irritable.

On the stands.

Wang Qiuer watched Wang Donger's grandstanding performance, her golden dragon pupils calm as an ancient well.

It was only 1200 years, after all.

"It's your sweetheart's turn." Gu Yuena slurped her milk tea.

Finally, it was Huo Yuhao's turn to take the stage.

He walked swayingly to the center of the arena, looking at the selection platform.

"Huo Yuhao, what age do you want to choose?" The judge asked routinely.

"1500 years."

"Hiss..."

The entire arena collectively gasped in unison.

1500 years? Isn't that the passing line for third-year students?

Ma Xiaotao stood on the high platform, her eyes lighting up instantly.

"This brat, still so daring." Ma Xiaotao scolded with a low laugh, her tone full of appreciation and anticipation.

In the front row of the stands.

Gu Yuena changed to a more comfortable sitting position, propping her chin with one hand.

Wang Qiuer remained expressionless, but if someone familiar with her were watching, they would notice her tense shoulders relax.

She certainly wasn't worried about Huo Yuhao; no one in this world knew Huo Yuhao's strength better than she did.

"Click, click, click..."

The deepest iron gate opened, and a dark green afterimage shot out like lightning.

1500 years of cultivation, Shadow Mantis!

This thing was an old rascal among speed-type Spirit Beasts, its pair of forelimbs sharper than divine weapons.

The Shadow Mantis didn't waste any words, turning into a ball of green light and pouncing straight at Huo Yuhao's face.

Huo Yuhao stood in place, not moving at all; the hearts of the entire audience were in their throats.

"Dodge!" Someone couldn't help but shout out.

Just at the moment the Shadow Mantis's sickle was about to cut off his head, Huo Yuhao's eyes instantly turned a brilliant ice blue.

Spiritual Detection Sharing, full power activated!

He tilted his head slightly, and the sickle swept past his nose tip, bringing a gust of wind.

The Shadow Mantis missed its strike, instantly turned back in the air, turned into a dozen afterimages, and launched a storm-like attack from all directions.

Huo Yuhao's movements were extremely strange.

He didn't use any flashy movement techniques, just stood within a square inch.

Sidestepping, lowering his head, leaning back, sliding his steps.

Every time, it was like dancing on the Grim Reaper's sickle, and every time, he perfectly avoided it by a hair's breadth.

He was waiting. After dodging seventeen attacks in a row.

The Shadow Mantis's movements showed a tiny, microscopic lag.

"Got you."

Huo Yuhao's right hand instantly expanded, covered by the Ice Empress's Pincer.

His left hand surged with cold air, Ultimate Ice condensing.

At the moment of the Shadow Mantis's next assault, he no longer dodged.

Both hands attacked simultaneously!

Predicting the trajectory!

"Bang!"

His right fist smashed heavily onto the Shadow Mantis's triangular head.

At the same time, his left hand grabbed its pair of forelimbs, and the extreme cold instantly froze it into an ice sculpture.

One-hit kill.

Crisp, neat, without any hesitation.

The Shadow Mantis rolled its eyes and fainted; the entire battle process took less than three minutes.

The Spirit Beast Coliseum was silent.

Everyone had their mouths wide open.

Is this really a second-year freshman?

On the stands.

A golden light flashed in Wang Qiuer's eyes, and the corners of her mouth finally curled up uncontrollably.

This is him.

Calm, precise; he doesn't strike until necessary, and when he does, it's a fatal blow.

Gu Yuena put down her milk tea and clapped twice casually.

"The performance was okay."

Her tone was as plain as if she were evaluating the lunch in the cafeteria, but in those purple eyes, there was a pride of "this is my own."

Although her voice wasn't loud, it happened to fall into the ears of Wang Donger, who had just walked onto the stands.

Wang Donger turned her head sharply, staring sharply at Gu Yuena.

This was also her first time looking at this silver-haired, purple-eyed woman from such a close distance.

"Huo Yuhao, 1500-year Spirit Beast, zero damage, one-hit defeat..."

The judge's voice was trembling.

"Full marks! 150 points!"

Ma Xiaotao took the lead in applauding wildly from above, her fiery red hair dancing wildly in the wind.

"Beautiful! Little Yuhao, well done! Sister Xiaotao will treat you to a meal to celebrate tonight!" Ma Xiaotao's voice spread across the entire arena.

Huo Yuhao patted the ice shards off his hands and turned to walk out of the Spirit Beast Coliseum.

As soon as he came out, he ran head-on into a war without smoke.

Wang Donger was the first to rush up. She held a clean towel and a bottle of water, her smile blindingly bright.

"Full marks! I knew you could do it!"

While Wang Donger spoke, she naturally wanted to go wipe Huo Yuhao's sweat, but before her towel could touch Huo Yuhao...

Gu Yuena had already strolled over unhurriedly.

She didn't have a towel or water.

She just extended a fair finger and poked Huo Yuhao's shoulder without ceremony.

"That last move, your left hand was a fraction of a second slow. Did eating too much yesterday affect your drawing speed? You're going to have extra training when we get home."

In Gu Yuena's tone, there was a sense of casualness.

It was the attitude that only comes from growing up together, eating together, and seeing right through you.

Huo Yuhao gave a helpless bitter smile: "I know, Sister Nana."

Wang Donger's hand holding the towel froze in mid-air.

She watched Gu Yuena poke Huo Yuhao's shoulder, and her heart tightened suddenly.

That natural sense of intimacy made her feel an unprecedented, massive threat.

Gu Yuena seemed to sense Wang Donger's gaze.

She turned her head and smiled slightly at Wang Donger.

The smile was extremely gentle and very polite.

But deep in those purple eyes, there was a sense of high-and-mighty composure.

"Student Wang Donger, right? Your Butterfly Wing Slash was used quite skillfully just now."

Gu Yuena said softly, "Another day, let's have Yuhao make grilled fish, and we can all eat together. He used to always mention you to me."

He used to always mention you to me.

This sentence was like a needle, precisely piercing Wang Donger's fatal weakness.

What did this mean?

It meant that everything that happened to Huo Yuhao outside would be told to this woman when he got home.

Wang Donger took a deep breath and stuffed the towel into Huo Yuhao's hand.

She turned around, met Gu Yuena's gaze, and revealed a smile that was equally sweet.

"Sure, I would also like to learn more about Yuhao's past. After all, we'll be living together from now on."

The gauntlet had been thrown; Gu Yuena raised her eyebrows.

Huo Yuhao was caught in the middle, feeling the air around him almost freezing.

He subconsciously took half a step back.

This step back happened to meet the gaze of Wang Qiuer, who was standing half a step behind Gu Yuena.

Wang Qiuer didn't step forward to join the excitement; she just stood there quietly.

The two of them, separated by the air, met eyes.

Wang Qiuer didn't say anything.

But Huo Yuhao understood the four words she didn't say from her golden eyes:

"Well fought."

That was the absolute tacit understanding that only people who had experienced life-and-death reliance in a past life, fighting back-to-back to carve out a bloody path, could understand.

Huo Yuhao looked at her, a complex, soft light flashing in his eyes.

He gave a barely perceptible nod. Ma Xiaotao was on the high platform, gnawing on melon seeds she had pulled out from who knows where.